Metro

Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and several members of the City Council spent Monday publicizing bills that would be introduced during that day’s city council meeting.

One bill would dedicate a small part of the city budget to youth programs. Another would return 911 operations to the police department. A third would cut property taxes for certain grocery stores and fourth would halve the storm water remediation fee.

Baltimore County’s violent crime rate dropped by a little more than six percent last year, even though the population increased.

County police released crime stats Wednesday showing there were 25 murders in 2014, matching the annual average over the previous five years. But the number of rapes went down by nearly 30 percent and aggravated assaults dropped by more than 11 percent.